Right. The big one. Quite literally. Now that Jozy has departed, he can't do anything to redeem himself, there's no chance of any turnaround, he is a closed book that nobody ever wants to read again. He tore up the Dutch league, there's no questioning that, and the £6-8million fee seemed like a not-too-ridiculous price at the time for somebody with that record. He was in the Tore Andre Flo price range. What could possibly go wrong? Well, everything. It's not like there was ever a period of time Altidore played well for Sunderland. He had a bright debut against Fulham, but that was it, and the stats are nightmarish. In all competitions, he mustered 3 goals in 52 games (1 goal in 42 league games). To paint a picture, that's less goals than Tore Andre Flo, in almost double the amount of games, for roughly the same price. It's a monumentally awful return. What makes the situation even more frustrating is that Wilfried Bony was equally rampant in the Dutch League and went on to become a huge hit for Swansea. And now shady ex-DoF Roberto Di Fanti has also stated that Altidore was signed after missing out on Romelu Lukaku... Talk about rubbing salt in the wounds. Looking for some sort of defence of Altidore, at least he didn't kill anybody and he gave Sunderland a ticket to purchase Jermain Defoe who already beat Jozy's league goal tally in his first three games... People can try to sweeten up the Altidore situation by saying 'he put himself about', 'he didn't get a chance' but A) He didn't. And B) He did. Jozy Altidore is Sunderland's worst ever Premier League signing.
What Culture contributor. NCTJ accredited Sports Journalist. Regret-filled Sunderland AFC season ticket holder. Optimism-filled NFL fan. Lover of all things Game Of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead & more.
